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@dpwillis732

The state Attorney General’s office has blocked an organizer from holding what was billed as a superstorm Sandy Reconstruction Summit, an event that authorities alleged was a fraud.

State Superior Court Judge Harriet F. Klein in Essex County has ordered William S. Loiry of Lynn Haven, Fla., the summit’s organizer, to cancel the event, which was scheduled to take place on Dec. 17 at the Trenton Marriott Hotel in Trenton.

Last week, the state Division of Consumer Affairs filed a lawsuit to stop the superstorm Sandy Reconstruction Summit, contending that Loiry violated the state’s consumer fraud laws by conducting business in New Jersey under assumed names that are not registered to do business in the state or anywhere else, authorities said.

“We sought to stop this event in order to protect New Jerseyans from falling victim to the defendants’ alleged false advertising while they desperately seek the means to rebuild and recover from an unprecedented natural disaster,” Attorney General Jeffery S. Chiesa said in a statement.

“We repeat our warning to anyone unscrupulous enough to seek to take advantage of those harmed by Hurricane Sandy: Keep your dishonest business practices out of our state, or we will take the steps necessary to keep you out.”

In court papers, Loiry accused the state Attorney General’s office of “gross overreach and misconduct.”

“The AG’s meritless allegations of consumer fraud and victim exploitation are based on nothing but innuendo and malicious hearsay,” Loiry said in a letter to Klein.

The summit was an effort to replicate “numerous successful and beneficial conferences held in the Gulf Coast States in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill disaster,” Loiry said. Speakers at those “highly-regarded forums” included governors, senators, congressmen, mayors, parish presidents, military officials, relief organizations, nonprofit restoration groups, business executives, and news media, he added.

But state officials said the event was not what it was billed to be.

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Shortly after Sandy hit New Jersey’s coast, Loiry allegedly set up a website, sending out more than 300,000 emails advertising a “Superstorm Sandy Reconstruction Summit,” the state said. His communications implied it was affiliated or endorsed by the state and federal governments, authorities said.

It featured the Seal of the President of the United States as well as a picture of the U.S. Capitol. The emails were sent from the “NY/NJ Restoration Leadership” and said it was being held by the “United States Leadership Forum,” the state said.

Loiry is the only member of those organizations, neither of which are registered to legally conduct business in New Jersey, authorities said.

Loiry charged a $175 to $275 per-person registration fee for the summit and has collected that fee from 30 consumers, the state said. He also offered corporate sponsorships and allegedly collected $1,000 from two businesses.

The lawsuit seeks refunds for anyone who paid a registration fee, the state said.

Loiry said the conference was free to Sandy victims as well as government officials and relief organizations. “I never intended for the Sandy event to be a net profit revenue generator,“ Loiry said. “Our mission was to try to be as helpful as possible.”

In seeking to stop the summit, the state cited Loiry’s 2011 bankruptcy filing that has been opposed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee due to alleged fraud as well as about 20 outstanding judgments against Loiry, many stemming from unpaid debts from post-disaster events he has held in other states, including Louisiana, authorities said.

The website and emails also promised that attendees would receive information from top federal, state and local government officials about relief, reconstruction and financing programs when in fact no officials were booked to speak, authorities said.

At a meeting on Dec. 4, Loiry provided a list of five individuals who were confirmed speakers, the state said. Only one appeared to be a government official, a Louisiana parish president, whose representative later told the division he did not plan to attend the summit. Another confirmed speaker turned out not to have the government affiliation that Loiry claimed he had, according to court papers.

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“The Division of Consumer Affairs has made it abundantly clear, from our lawsuits against 18 businesses alleged to have engaged in price gouging, that we are committed to ensuring those affected by Hurricane Sandy will not be victimized again,” said Eric T. Kanefsky, acting state director of consumer affairs.

Loiry said he is being “forced to cancel” the planned New Jersey summit. “The AG, acting as both judge and jury, has achieved its goal by labeling me an unscrupulous carpet-bagger and forcing cancellation of the Summit,” Loiry wrote.

An online biography said Loiry, a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, has brought together more than 150 current and former heads of state, hundreds of leading global chief executive officers, and major philanthropists to tackle the world’s most urgent problems.

It is “easy now to make assumptions about people and organizations based on a Google search,” Loiry said. “We have a very strong following and that is because people know that we provide very valuable events that actually help people.”